University Receives $2.6M for 13 Agriculture Projects
The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine is among recipients of Rapid Agricultural Response Fund awards addressing dairy labor and swine and turkey disease.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Veterinary Medicine
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The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine received funding for 13 projects through the Rapid Agricultural Response Fund, with $2.6 million awarded in the 2024-25 biennium. Funded work addresses dairy labor, PRRS in swine, Streptococcus gallolyticus in turkeys, and swine influenza.
Why it matters
The fund was created to enable rapid responses to urgent issues facing Minnesota's agriculture and natural resource based industries. Limited workforce availability is a major challenge faced by the dairy industry, and the awarded projects target that and ongoing swine disease threats.
The 2024-25 biennium awards totaled $2.6 million across 13 projects chosen through a competitive proposal process. Outcomes of the funded research have not yet been reported.
The players
University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine
The college is a unit of the University of Minnesota that received funding for 13 projects through the Rapid Agricultural Response Fund.
Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
The station administers the Rapid Agricultural Response Fund in partnership with several University of Minnesota colleges and the Extension Service.
The details
The fund is administered under the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in partnership with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences, the College of Education and Human Development, and Veterinary Medicine, with support from the University of Minnesota Extension Service. A new PRRS variant emerged in late 2020 and caused massive outbreaks in Minnesota swine.
Timeline
1998: The Minnesota Legislature originally authorized the Rapid Agricultural Response Fund.
Late 2020: A new PRRS variant emerged and caused massive outbreaks in Minnesota swine.
2024-25 biennium: The fund awarded $2.6 million to 13 projects.
October and November: Minnesota pig producers face a significant increase in the probability of PRRS outbreaks.
Roadmap
The Rapid Agricultural Response Fund was authorized by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1998 to enable rapid responses to urgent agricultural and natural resource issues. This round of awards continues that approach by funding targeted projects on dairy labor and swine and turkey disease.
Minnesota pig producers face a heightened risk of PRRS outbreaks in October and November, so farm planning around that window matters. The funded PRRS airborne transmission and manure pumping studies are projected to inform prevention strategies, though results have not yet been published.
The takeaway
Targeted state funding can move quickly on agricultural threats, but the value of these 13 projects will depend on results that are not yet available. Producers planning for the fall PRRS risk window should track those findings as they emerge.
Further reading
Explore more on Veterinary Medicine to see how animal health research shapes farm practice.
Source note: This article includes information reported by National Hog Farmer.
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